Sony has officially opened its re-built distribution centre in Enfield after the old building was burnt down in the London riots last summer. Prime Minister David Cameron was a guest at the opening.
The new distribution centre was in time to be fully operational with stock for the peak Christmas sales period which accounts for 50 per cent of annual revenue.
It is operated by Sony’s global subsidiary Sony DADC which handles about a quarter of the UK’s home entertainment media such as CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and digital media products.
Cameron praised Sony for its efforts in retaining local employees through using the original site. “I want to commend Sony for seeing this as an opportunity to rebuild an even better facility and for protecting the jobs of those employed here while they did it.
“The fantastic new distribution centre I’ve seen can handle more orders and has created the potential for more jobs in the area. I’m delighted to be here to wish Sony well as they move back to their home in Enfield today.”
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The fire destroyed about a quarter of Britain’s total stock of CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs was destroyed by the fire.
Natasha Tyrrell, general manager distribution at Sony DADC UK who has spearheaded the recovery and development strategy, said: “Thanks to the dedication of our employees, contractors, suppliers and customers we have managed to pull off the impossible and re-establish our business in time for our busiest trading period and kept alive the businesses that depend on our services.”
The new complex is 2m higher than its predecessor, contains three office floors (one more floor than previously) stretching over 326,000 square feet (30,286 sqm) and incorporates high technology investment such as 4th generation conveyor and warehouse management systems. Especially recognising the need for top-level security, the Enfield site has adopted a new security concept that will increase the protection of staff, customer goods and the premises.
“It was the fastest ever build of its type in the UK with an overall construction and fit out period of 23 weeks. This enabled the site to become fully operational after just 11 months following the devastation caused by the arson attack,” said the principle contractor ISG Retail.
The new distribution centre provides a peak throughput capability of some 1.2m units and can currently cater for around 55,000 titles per day, shipped to 20,000 retail addresses all over the UK and Ireland.
As with the previous distribution centre, the service portfolio consists of physical handling and packing, testing and verification, distribution planning as well as financial services. Now, with an increasing focus on offering B2C distribution and retail services in addition to B2B services,
The UK distribution centre is part of Sony DADC’s global network that comprises approximately 30 sites in 19 countries worldwide.
